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Police to stop attending minor car crashes

WA Police will no longer attend traffic crashes where there are no serious injuries.

A series of changes have been announced to the way police manage traffic crashes in what they say is an effort to clear congestion faster and improve efficiency surrounding crash responses.

Assistant Commissioner for Traffic and Emergency Response Nick Anticich said on Wednesday if there is no serious injury, criminality or significant damage to a third party, the priority will be to return traffic flow to normal.

He said this includes asking people to report crashes on line in minor circumstances to allow police to concentrate on returning traffic flow to normal as quickly as possible.

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Police want the community to help move vehicles off the road after minor crashes to keep traffic moving.

"The simple rule of thumb for the motoring public will be to call 000 if the crash has resulted in a life-threatening emergency.

"Other crashes should be reported to the Police Assistance Centre on 131 444; give clear information to our staff, and they will advise you on what to do next."

The policy changes are part of the Frontline 2020 Reform Program and complement the trial of a centralised traffic operating model, which started on November 4.

Under the model, a tactical sergeant has been based at the Police Operations Centre to better coordinate the deployment of traffic officers across the metropolitan area.

"The tactical sergeant is in the nerve centre of police operations and has access to resources that will help them decide which matters we need to get to quickly and which ones we can downgrade," Mr Anticich said.

The model also includes centralised crash vetting and investigation units to better manage crash inquiries.

Those units will provide improved direction on which matters require further investigation and better control over those investigations.

"We will investigate the crashes that require investigation well, while minor crashes that do not require police investigation can be resolved by individuals and their insurance companies," Mr Anticich said.

The response and management or serious and fatal crashes has not changed.

12 comments so far

Attending accidents could compromise their revenue raising so I guess the move makes sense. Create income first, react to accidents second or not at all.

Commenter

Zjonn

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 10:14AM

So what happens to your insurance claiming if no Police incident number is allocated ?

Commenter

OLd Bill

Location

East Perth

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 11:01AM

You will still be able to go to your local Police station and, for a soon to be announced fee, get your incident number.

Commenter

Zjonn

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 11:44AM

Or do it online and they give you a number. This makes more sense than a lot of things that get done in the public sector.

Police don't need to be at every traffic accident, just a waste of time and resources. If you report the crash online, get the number and report it to your insurance company then you will be fine.

Or, if you don't like the computer route, you can still go into the local branch and make the report.

Commenter

MattyHoofaT

Location

Perth

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 3:43PM

"Police want the community to help move vehicles off the road after minor crashes to keep traffic moving." You've got to be kidding half the drivers out there shouldnt have licenses due to their skills/atitude and someone is suggesting I go out amongst them and help push crashed cars around or direct traffic? I'm not even going to bother responding with a relly good expletive!!

Commenter

Steve

Location

Mullaloo Beach

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 11:57AM

So.. I have a minor crash on the Mitchell Freeway, I still don't call the cops? despite cars moving at 100kmh I must try to sort it out.. ok, thats how that poor fellow was killed last week.

Commenter

Ant

Location

Perth

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 1:18PM

If it is a minor crash, wouldn't you just drive off??? And if you call 131 444 to report the crash and they will tell you what to do. More than likely the traffic response guys will give you a shove if required and if that isn't possible I am sure the police would still attend and make sure the scene was safe.

But then again, after a minor crash that results in no injury and very little damage, you will probably want some to whinge to and complain to, instead of acting like responsible adults and exchanging details and going on with you day.

Commenter

MattyHoofaT

Location

Perth

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 3:46PM

Zjonn is on the dollar, money in first, people and safety second, this is just a continuation of the diminishing but very expensive "service" to the WA people.

With the ever increasing crime and violence, all this signals to the people of Western Australia is, the policy makers and heads of the Police Department are less and less interested in actual Policing and more and more interested in "Revenue".

God bring back the old days when Police Officers were a very visual presence, as it would improve so many things and reduce so many of the negative things we see in modern culture and who knows it may even retrieve the general publics respect of our Police Department that is also very sadly waning / non existent.